Lord Hino survived a shallow cut to his neck, of course he did. While he was confined to his bed for his health, his eldest son took up temporary leadership of the clan and ordered the country to prepare for war.

Oichi wouldn't allow the young Hino an advantage soon and organised individual meetings with his neighbours in open secret. Hino clan allies were refraining from attacking the Kaki or moving into Tanaka land while they were made docile by the fact that the seemingly harmless Lord Kaki had bedridden the infamous Lord Hino, but Oichi couldn't count on them remaining so forever.

"I expected your visit long before Hino's forces started gathering, Kaki-dono," the head of the Nishihara clan mildly berated. He was older than the late Lord Kaki had been, and farther in temperament. "You should have come to me the moment you had challenged Hino-dono by claiming Tanaka land."

"As a member of the alliance opposing Hino-dono and his allies, I expected you to seek Tanaka land with equal fervour," Oichi deflected.

Lord Nishihara lifted an embroidered sleeve over his mouth. "Oh my. The late Tanaka-dono's infertile lands offer no spoils save for common metals. I merely disdain an enemy gaining territory close to home."

"When the Hino clan declares war on the Kaki, it shall be a swift defeat for Hino-dono with your men backing mine."

"And why would my men help yours?"

"With certain knowledge, one would ask why my men would help yours."

Nishihara's eyes glittered with interest. "A favour for a favour."

"Not quite."

He blinked, startled.

Oichi leaned in. "Of my immediate neighbours who oppose Hino-dono and his allies, I've approached you first for the reason that all of Tanaka-dono's neighbours sent forces to oppose mine in the Tanaka lands except you. Surely, you don't care about my clan, for even Kaki farms offer as little as Tanaka mines to the rice valleys and gold-rich mines of the Nishihara. The simpler motive behind your inaction is that you wish to avoid direct war with the alliance that Hino-dono leads and Tanaka-dono was a part of. Even if Hino-dono ends up claiming land 'close to home.'"

"I would easily wait his supplies out as he treks through your mountains and wetlands to reach me."

"You revealed your intentions for this meeting too easily, Nishihara-dono. You desire a favour from the buffer nation of Kaki." Oichi's lips twitched. "You think too small. May I ask why you dislike the Hino?"

"Hino-dono preys on his former ally's territory," Nishihara sniffed. "Were I him, I would never give my allies reason to think me so mutable."

"Honour, then. Nishihara-dono, what do you say to the opportunity to crush Hino-dono and his alliance once and for all?"

Silence. "…You propose a risky endeavour, Kaki-dono. For yourself."

They were on the same page. Good. But just in case…. "An all-out war on the Hino," Oichi laid out. "My forces lead vanguard and take the brunt of the action. Your forces back me up not as loaned men, but as allies. And whatever the outcome of the war, the Kaki clan becomes the epitome of it."

"In Hino-dono's victory where my clan would suffer a loss and return home, you would be servants under his heel," Nishihara translated. "In Hino-dono's loss where my clan would be rid an enemy, you would be our leader." He exhaled deeply. "You're binding the fate of your clan to my and my allies' victory."

It would be a gamble stacked against Kaki, two possibilities to one. Hino victory, Nishihara loss, and Kaki destroyed; Hino loss, Nishihara victory, and Kaki too exhausted to stand, and eventually destroyed; or Hino loss, Nishihara victory, and Kaki sitting on Hino land and Tanaka metals and access to Nishihara gold and rice. Oichi had much to gain in winning, yet risked more than Lord Nishihara in seeking to war against Hino.

The corners of Nishihara's lips curled. The terms pleased him. "You have yourself an ally, Kaki-dono."

Negotiations with other members of the same alliance as Nishihara flowed similarly if less positively, which so far met Oichi's goal of making an ally out of at least a few of them.

Some lords wouldn't budge without a letter of approval from Lord Nishihara sent in advance of Oichi's arrival, but the more who joined Oichi, the less time she had to waste on formalities, as well as had more daimyo willing to send approval letters to smooth talks over. Lord Hino was an abrasive man without friends - and if any, none who mattered - so Oichi's search for allies against the Hino was like a dye of action in the water that was the Nishihara alliance, quick to spread.

Neutral daimyos refused to turn from their fear of Lord Hino and his army, but with Lord Hino bedridden and his army under the command of his inexperienced son, Oichi was given the chance to meet the neutral clan heads.

Most hesitations ran thus: "Your traitorous ninja cut Hino-dono's neck in a meeting." How could anyone trust a clan head who approved of attacking another clan head in a meeting?

Oichi's defence was usually: "If Fuuma-kun was slower, I wouldn't be here." Lord Hino had broken the rules first. Also, don't insult Oichi's shinobi in front of her.

The honourable Lord Nishihara's approval of her made more sense to them after that.

In the end, however, the neutral lords and the few of Nishihara's allies who wanted zero part of her proposal denied Oichi any aid. The landlords left who didn't ally with Kaki yet still desired the defeat of Hino quoted to send the minimal deterrence of 100 retainers to her rear guard. If their 100 were forced to fight, the associated daimyo would have then officially declared war on Hino.

Oichi understood holding back until the last second, but she forced herself to bite her tongue at the response.

Naturally, the Hino clan's allies stirred when 5,000 Nishihara retainers marched to the Tanaka lands, but they were taken by surprise when Young Hino's declaration of war on the Kaki clan was met with the Nishihara forces joining the Kaki's 1,000 strong. Too late, the Hino clan and its allies realised that Nishihara had no desire taking Tanaka land but rather defending it in Kaki's name, and Hino's allies were separated from Hino and Tanaka land by at least one Nishihara-allied or neutral nation. Invading either of the latter two would equate to declaring war on them, which even as Hino's allies, no one desired unless absolutely necessary.

With classic constricting that had seen the Soviet Union weakened and the Spartans before them, Oichi had ventured a gamble on her own terms:

Winning terms.

The battles between Hino and Kaki-Nishihara forces lasted at most two days. By the last battle, Oichi found herself forcibly idle on her horse in the rear guard with embarrassed minimal deterrent forces, while the front row of her and Lord Nishihara's retainers together neutralised Young Hino's shinobi with ease. A wave of cheers alerted her when the battle and war were finally over. She could spot a Nishihara shinobi cutting through the battlefield for the rear, likely to give or receive instruction.

"It's done, huh," Oichi muttered to herself. "San-chan! Have you eyes on Hino the younger?"

Sanjuro dutifully responded. "No, my lord. It appears that the Hino main family has barricaded themselves in the family castle."

"That's disappointing."

Sanjuro sighed. "No other clan head rides in battle with their retainers, my lord."

Lord Nishihara was governing his lands at home while his forces fought in another nation for him, but the clan head had always struck Oichi as a lord whose strengths lied in words over blades. Oichi also didn't know the details on how her other allies organised their forces at the borders of Hino allies, only that they had so far been effective at keeping the Hino clan and its allies cut off from each other.

"You're generalising, San-chan."

"My lord!" Sanjuro morosely exclaimed.

"Lord Kaki." The approaching Nishihara shinobi arrived and bowed. Blood and sweat stuck his hair to his skin, but he didn't look at all winded. "The battle is won. My clan shall escort you to the Hino castle while the rest of Nishihara-sama's forces return home."

"Sounds good." Oichi rose her voice. "Good work, everyone! Nishihara shinobi, you guys do as you do! Rear guard, can't say it was nice knowing you, but there's always a lazy ant in a group project, so I say what the hell and go home in peace!" When the Nishihara shinobi leader lifted his head, Oichi's brows raised. "Wow, you're handsome! Yams, do you see?"

Afar, one of Oichi's youngest retainers looked up. "I do, Your Grace."

"Symmetrical features!"

A few retainers huddled near the younger. "Taniyama-dono…why were you called out and not us? We may not have obviously handsome features, but we are still the pride of our hometowns. Look at this auspicious nose like a dumpling. Taniyama-dono, explain…."

Oichi pointedly ignored them and turned to her officials collectively. "The six of you lead all our men back home through our trade route. The rest of you are heading with me to the Hino castle."

Her retainers nodded and immediately dispersed, save for Sarutobi, who stepped forward. The deterrence in the rear guard awkwardly navigated around him and Kaki ally forces to return home on their own.

"My lord, I shall send my family ahead of me. I would personally like to join you for the castle."

"May I ask why?"

Sarutobi glanced at the Nishihara shinobi leader standing aside at attention. "Over the course of fighting battles alongside them, I've come to think of our ally shinobi clan well, and would call them friends if given the opportunity to know them better."

Sarutobi wanted to chat with his newfound pals on the way to the castle? "Fine by me. Let's move!"

The shinobi leader turned to Sarutobi as Oichi kicked her horse to action. "Your master is a strange one."

Sarutobi grinned. "I know."

Young Hino and his family killed themselves when Kaki-Nishihara forces broke past the castle gates. They refused to be caught in their failure of a war. Lord Hino the elder was predictably livid.

"You country wench!"

"Peace, Hino-dono." Oichi plopped down beside the old man's bed and patted his leg. "One shouldn't be livelier in war than in peace, else one attracts trouble. If that's too cerebral for you, let me say: your unpleasant attitude isn't good for your health."

Given this was the feudal era, the bed was a cot on the ground, and Oichi had to fix her armour and sheathed swords awkwardly before stretching her legs in front of her. It would be impossible to ask her to kneel with her legs tucked under her as was typical bedside conduct. Lord Hino's castle servants shivered with fear at the feet of the Nishihara shinobi leader and Oichi's retainers, who stood two paces back from Oichi and Lord Hino in a respectful distance.

"Honestly, your son blundered by declaring war on the Kaki nation," Oichi shared. "We both know he acted without your approval - indeed, at a time you had no voice with which to rebuke him - but Young Hino, may he rest in peace, has paid for his mistakes. I know that you will behave wisely moving forward."

Lord Hino growled up at Oichi. Though he had been cursing her since laying eyes on her, his voice was still raspy with healing. "Spare me the salt on my wounds, Kaki-'dono.' I am bitter but not stupid."

"Keep your fire, Hino-dono. I'm not killing you today."

"Then my son understood war better than you!"

"You are not dying," Oichi continued over his raised voice, "nor your castle servants, because I'm not about to stab an old man in his bed and order the deaths of unresisting non-combatants. I don't need to. This land is already mine."

Lord Hino shot up in his bed for Oichi, but two sets of hands restrained him. Oichi didn't blink as chakra flared across her cheek like a bite of wind before twin pulses from her retainers Musashi and Minamoto cancelled out Lord Hino's attack. Still the old man resisted, his infamous strength worrying even the two veteran samurai holding him.

Oichi patted Lord Hino's leg again. "Let it be known how the Kaki achieved victory today. Enjoy retirement, Hino-san."

The old man loosed a raspy roar. "I'll not suffer house arrest by a country bumpkin! Release me! Let me die with honour!"

"My lord?" Musashi prodded for an order as Lord Hino raged in his grasp.

"The deposed Lord Hino wants death." Oichi rose and headed for the door. Her retainers parted before her. "As with all his desires from this day forth, it shall be denied."

The remains of the Hino clan were moved to a small estate to share, which was attended by servants who had worked in Hino clan households before and thus whose loyalty to new lords was questionable. Meanwhile Lord Hino - a lord by virtue of his blood, and not his power over a country - was confined to a larger but simpler property: the modest Hino temple. At the time of his ruling, Lord Hino's treasury had neglected the nation's religious upkeep, throwing irony on his new situation. Lord Hino and his closest aides were now part of a monastery, legally unable to pursue political ambitions for the rest of their lives.

Many landlords respected the Kaki nation's method of victory, while many more were wary of antagonising the once dismissible country. Former Hino allies wagged their tongues but stood idly by as the Kaki nation merged Hino and Tanaka lands with its own, assisted by Nishihara forces and by trade with countries who had disliked Hino and felt they had missed out on contributing to the victory. Despite Oichi's concerns, Lord Nishihara faithfully respected their agreement and didn't declare any of the Tanaka lands for himself. The Kaki nation truly became the epitome of the war's outcome.

Oichi sighed into her cup of tea that had been harvested from fertile Kaki land, processed at formerly Tanaka-Kaki borders, and shipped to the new Kaki castle that had been the Hino clan's.

With more resources, people, and the responsibilities that came with them, Kaki's main body had to expand. Sarutobi and Fuuma's family members, though they had grown used to Ken'ichi's wetlands, appreciated having breathing room in the Tanaka lands they had once defended. Oichi personally would have preferred the castle for the main Kaki family line - aka the royal castle, and thus the Kaki nation's capital - to now be in the Tanaka area closer to Lord Nishihara's own residence for faster correspondence. However, it was Oichi's own voice in war room councils that determined the new Kaki capital to be established opposite of the Nishihara clan. If Nishihara was the biggest allied country east of the Kaki homeland, the Kaki capital sat northwest of the homeland. Potential hostility from neighbours both east and west was curbed by the nearby presence of Nishihara and Kaki clan powers, which wouldn't have been possible if the Kaki clan had lounged in the safety of Lord Nishihara's shadow.

Naturally, power within the new borders of the Kaki nation was restructured to include loyal members and allies of the Kaki clan, and discourage coups for as long as there was a non-zero possibility of rebellion. Fortunately, Uncle Kentarou was ecstatic to claim more land and power for himself, and since Oichi had spared Lord Hino, the former Hino citizens and officials had no reason to view her new leadership as a hostile takeover. Caustic the Hino clan may have been, the Hino nation's government had been stable, if inflexible. Moving Sarutobi and Fuuma's clans to Tanaka land was also a good move, as the two mixed shinobi-civilian clans understood the locals and the land best.

With the bulk of the Kaki clan and their servants moved outside the homeland to govern, Oichi entrusted the properties and commoners they left behind to the eldest of her siblings, Princess Oharu who was five years Oichi's junior. Oichi decided that since Oharu was the second oldest of the main Kaki line, the princess needed to start gathering administrative experience just in case Oichi ever became incapacitated and Oharu needed to take over clan duties at the drop of a hat. Oichi also made sure to share a meal with Kentarou and two aides - her faithful Sanjuro and a senior retainer of Kentarou's - to quietly inform her uncle that he was her successor as clan head until such a time Oichi produced a son. Oichi loved all her siblings, but they were the typical females of the era, focused on running homes and not countries, and keen on pastimes or male interests. Oichi couldn't blame them, seeing as in her past life she had relished any opportunity not to be responsible and just have fun.

Oichi disliked the current future for the Kaki clan while she was childless, where clan head duties would be split between domestic clan-only affairs under Oharu like upkeep of the homeland and royal castle, and national and military affairs under Kentarou, but it was the best back-up plan Oichi could establish. Otherwise, entrusting the complete powers of clan head to the inexperienced Oharu would be asking for eventual destruction, and entrusting them to Kentarou would spit in the face of all the sacrifices that allowed Oichi to be where she was now as Lord Kaki.

As expected, producing a son became the focus of Oichi's life, whether she liked it or not.

"What of Lord Nishihara's nephew, lord of the greater province in the Nishihara country? His seed is strong among his concubines with fourteen sons to his name!"

"But to hand our lord over to a man lesser than her, are you dense as you are ugly?"

"My dumpling nose is auspicious-!"

Oichi's retainers were possessed by madness as they threw marriage suggestions and criticisms around the room like ammunition. Oichi sighed into her tea once more, having lost her retainers an hour ago. Even the usually quiet Fuuma was heatedly shooting down every suggestion, although to be fair, Oichi had yet to hear one worthy of being entertained even playfully.

Taniyama suddenly burst into the war room, a folded document in hand. "My lord, an urgent message from Lord Nishihara!" he greeted breathlessly, yet grace didn't abandon him. The young retainer navigated his spirited seniors for Oichi's dais - at this point accustomed to their energy - and knelt before her with the message extended above his bowed head. In neat writing, it was addressed LORD KAKI.

Inui perked up at the script. "Mayhaps a proposal from Nishihara's nephew!"

The retainers exploded into another flurry of debate. Oichi ignored them and set her tea down to accept the mail.

"Unlikely, Inui-dono," Taniyama corrected as Oichi opened the paper. "The message came by one of Lord Nishihara's retainers, who awaits in the vestibule and refuses to leave without Oichi-sama's response."

The message was hastily-written, and short at two lines. Oichi's blood chilled when she read them.

"All of you, quiet."

All noise suddenly vanished. Oichi's voice was at room volume, but her impassioned retainers swiftly collected themselves, fixed their ruffled clothing and hair, and turned apprehensive knees to their lord exactly because of that. The absence of her usual eccentricity was loud above the din of their arguing.

Musashi composed himself first. "My lord?"

"Yams."

Taniyama bowed deeper. "Your servant is listening."

Oichi drew Taniyama's short sword to everyone's alarm and cut her thumb. She pressed a bloody fingerprint on the paper and handed it and the sword back to Taniyama. "Return the message to Nishihara-dono's retainer, and explain that my mark is a promise that I will write back to his lord as soon as I can. For now, Nishihara-dono needs to know that I have received his letter. The response Nishihara-dono anticipates is one that I must compose with more time than his retainer can wait."

Taniyama nodded and swiftly left the room.

Oichi sighed and murmured to herself, "Nishihara-dono needs all the retainers he can get."

"My lord," Sanjuro spoke up, "what urgent matter concerns our ally?"

"The worst kind right after fighting a war," Oichi looked up and met everyone's bewildered gazes. "A tailed beast."